System for keeping accounts



' A. DEMEURISSE. SYSTEM FOR KEEPING ACCOUNTS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-10,1921- Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

A OZ/VIK/ UNITED STATES PATENT crates.

I ALFRED Du MEURISSE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SYSTEM FOR KEEPING ACCOUNTS.

Application filed February 10, 1921.

To all whom it may con oer oi.

Be it known that I, ALFRED on Maumssn, a cltizen of the United States,residing at New York City, borough of Manhattan, in

the county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and usefulSystem for Keeping Accounts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a system for keeping accounts, and is particularlyadapted for use in hotels, clubs, etc.,rto'simplify and facilitate thekeeping of accounts of individual patrons or members in an eflicient andeconomical manner.v i

It has heretofore been the practice, par

ticularly in clubs, to provide an envelope or folder for each clubmember, bearing the name'of the member, the date of'the' transaction,and to record on such envelope or folder the various charges, andsometimes.

other data, pertaining to the member. The envelopes or' folders areusually filed in trays or drawers, and when a charge is to be enteredagainst any particular nember, this members envelope or folder iswithdrawn from the tray or drawer and thecharge entered thereon,whereupon it is returned to its place. vAt suitable periods, usuallymonthly, the'charges are totaled, en-

tered in a ledger, and statements of account use in keeping accountswhich permits of an itemlzed account, as well as copies of the voucherson which the account is based, being sent to each patron or clubmember.Moreover, this result is accomplished without necessitating any morelabor than is requisite in keeping accounts by the old, and, manifestlyinadequate system. In this way, questions of correctness in the accountmay be readily checked up, to the entire satisfaction of the patron orclub member. Moreover, in the old system referred to, the en velopesarethro'wn away or discarded after they have served for a givenaccounting pe Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

Serial N0. 443,756; r i

i riod, a new or fresh envelope beingfused on each occasion of startinga new account.

In accordance with the present invention, however, theenvelope, per se,does not contain any notations, and the system is such that the envelopeis used repeatedly, though not necessarily for the same member, until itis worn out. By providing envelopes properly made from suitablematerial, the wear is comparatively slight, so thatthey may be i usedfor long periods of time,

The invention, in its preferred embodiment, consists of an envelopeprovlded, on

its exterior, with means for maintaining a\ record folder removably inposition. The

record folder preferably consists of two sheets, the front pages of eachof'which bears the same lining and printed matter, on which the name ofthe. member and date of theaccount may be written, and constitute blankson which charges may bev entered.

The back of thefirst sheet is preferably coated with a composition,analogous to that used on carbon paper, a non-smudging coating being, ofcourse, desirable, and the folder is adapted to be normally maintainedin position on the envelope so that the members name is readily apparenteven when the various' envelopes are filed away.

In, practicing the system, the entries are made from time to timeonthe'first page of the folder, without removing it from the en-f velop,and the carbon deposit on the back page thereof results in a duplicationofthe charges or entries onthe frontfpage of the second sheet. It willbe manifest that the sheets need-not necessarily be. attached together,and that,if desired, morethan two sheets may be employed.

of carbon paper may be employed, as is customary in making facsimilecopies, although it will be apparent that the preferred method of theprocedure outlined has advantages over using loose carbon sheets. Thefolder is retained on the envelope fora month, or

for any other period over which the account extends. In the meantime,the vouchers, from which the bookkeeping department enters the itemsonthe folder, are placed in the envelope. At the explration of theaccounting period, the charges on the folders are totaled, and astatement the member.

Instead. of the folder beingcoated as described, a'loose sheet of thistotal sent to i The envelope is then filed away until such time as themember remits the amount of the statement. Thereupon the folder isremoved from the envelope and the leaves thereof separated. The firstpage is filed for reference and the duplicate, together with thevouchers, are sent to the member, thereby enabling him to check up thecorrectness of description and claims, when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings. .The accompanying drawlngs illustrate onepractical embodiment of the invention, but 7 the construction thereinshown, is to beunderstood as illustrative," only, andnot asdefiningthelimits of the invention v Figure 1 is a perspective view ofcombined envelopeand folder employed inthe practicing of the system ofthis invention.

' Figure 1.

Figure 2 shows the folder detached, and the front page thereof curledback to show the carbon deposit'on the back face thereof; and r Figure 3i a section on the line 3+3 of Referring to the drawings, 1 designatesan envelope of any desired style'ormaterial, its chief function being toserve as av container for permanentrecords ina manner hereinafterdescribed. The envelope 1 is provided on its lateral edges withinturned' flanges or wings 2, providing meang for supporting a folder 1detachably in position on the front of the envelope 1. The flanges 2also serve as guides to facilitate thepositiorr ingof the holder inplace. V

While the flanges 2 may be formed in any suitable manner, I have shownthem for the purpose of illustration in the form of two strip 2, whichare placed parallel along the upper portion of the lateral edges of theenvelope with their lower ends extending through slits 2 into theinterior of the envelope. Thev strips 2 maybe held in position by gummedstrips 2, which are adhesively secured to the front faces of the strips2 folded around the lateral edges of the envelope and are pasted to theback of the envelope. The gummed strips maintain the strips 2 inposition and the passing of the strips 2 through slots in the envelopeserve to close the lower end of the guide ways thus formed, so thatthefolder 4 cannot drop down. The flanges 2 may be constructed in any othersuitable mannerbut the form shown may be mechanically and ef-. ficientlymanufactured I i The folder 4, as most usually employed,

'what I claim as new and embodies two sheets 5 and '6 made by folding' arectangular sheet of paperalong its medial line, which, in practice, ispreferably perforated or scored so as to permit of the sheets 5.and 6being'readily detached from each other. The front faces'of both sheetsare, in the preferred embodiment of the folder, suitably lined andprinted uponto provide convenient blank forms'for the en try of accountsor items of charge or expense, while the inner surface of the frontsheet 5 is coated with a carbon deposit similar to that employed inmaking carbon paper. The lining andprintingon the two sheets 5 and 6 areidentical, and are so placed that they will register, whereby thecharges or other notations written on the front of sheet5 will beimmediatelytransferred through. the

carbon surface 7 to the front of sheet 6.,

The folder 4 is adapted to belnormally retained in position on "theenvelope, as

shown in Figure 1, and theenvelope, in turn,

is placed in a-readily accessible tray or drawer. As the items are to becharged against the member or patron, fromtime to the carbon surface 7,or other expedient, to 'the face of the back sheet 6. lVhen it becometime to bill the member, or patron, the.

procedure hereinbefore described, or its equivalent is followed. 7

While the sheets or leaves, whether loosev or in the form of a foldermaybe plain, they usually contain certain data and are usually so ruledas to facilitate their usefor the particular purpose desired. V

The system described is simple, practical and efficient, and argumentsor questions as to charges are minimized, since the .patron. or member.can check up dates and amounts from the itemized statement andaccompany ing vouchers with. which he is furnished. 7

All the specific features described need not necessarily be employedtogether, or for the special purpose or in the particular environmentoutlined; accordingly, the scope ofthe invention is to be regarded asbroadly novel.

claims. V Having thus as is commensurate .with the appended fullydescribed the invention, desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 7

1. A new article of manufacture; for facilitating the keeping ofaccounts embodying anenvelope, provided witlrflanges ex- .teriorlythereof, adaptedto contain or sup port a folder, in combination with afolder embodying two leaves, the front faces of both of which containthe same blank forms in juxtaposed relation and the rear face of thefront leaf containing 'a carbon deposit serving to transfer writingdelineated on the face of the front leaf on to the face of the backleaf, whereby a duplicate recordmay be kept on the folder withoutrequiring removal of the folder from the envelope.

2. A new article of manufacture for facilitating the keeping of accountsembody .ing an envelope, and means for detachably -mounting a folder onthe envelope, in combination with a folder comprising two leaves,thefront face of each of which contains corresponding data and means,whereby when notations are applied to the face .of one leaf, they areautomatically duplicated on the face of the other leaf.

. 3. A new article of manufacture for facilitating the keeping ofaccounts embodying a holder or container provided with means forsupporting a plurality of juxtaposed leaves, in combination with aplurality of leaves, the front faces of all of which are adaptedtocontain corresponding data,,and'

means whereby duplicate records may be simultaneously produced on all oftheleaves.

4. A new article of manufacture for facilitating the keepingof accountsembodying an envelope open at its top and provided at its lateral edgeswith exterlor flanges extending downwardly from'the open upper edge ofthe envelope and adapted toreceive and support a two leaffoldenincombination with 'a two-leaf folder, the front faces of the leaves ofwhich are adapted to contain thesame data, said folder embodying meanswhereby-the record made on the face of the front leaf is duplicated onthe frontfaceof the second leaf.

5. A new article of maufacture for facilitating the keeping of accountsembodying an envelope open at its top and provided near its lateraledges with means extending downwardly from the open upper edge .of

the envelope and adapted to receive and sup-,

ALFRED DE MEURISSE.

